Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 1,745 Shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its holdings in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,745 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Kemper were worth $2,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Kemper by 72.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,067 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,781,000 after buying an additional 12,196 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kemper in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Kemper during the third quarter valued at approximately $82,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Kemper by 102.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 201,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,358,000 after purchasing an additional 102,339 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Kemper by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Kemper from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.60.

Kemper Stock Performance

KMPR stock opened at $58.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.38. Kemper Co. has a 12-month low of $53.57 and a 12-month high of $73.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.40. Kemper had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 6.85%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kemper Co. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. This is a boost from Kemper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.07%.

About Kemper

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance.